Phoenix
by LucianLoveNarnia
Summary: One of Dick Grayson's best friends meets the team and becomes close to Kaldur. Yes, the summary sucks, but the actual story is much better!


**I dunno why this idea came to me. I guess I just felt bad for Kaldur, being all alone without someone to love. So in this, Barbara Gordon isn't Batgirl. I felt that would be a little awkward, seeing as how Barbara and Dick are sortakinda—very briefly!—portrayed as a couple at one point during the series. At least, that's what it seems like to me. Also, I took the "Batwoman/Sonja" idea from the Batman movie "Mystery of the Batwoman." I just felt Batgirl needed a female companion, since living with guys seemed a little tough for a teenage girl. Anyway, this is just a random oneshot I made at like midnight. It's probably not the best, since I was like totally out of it and nodding off while writing, but try to enjoy anyway!**

**DISCLAIMER – I do not own Young Justice. I wish. If I **_**did**_** own it, this would have actually happened.**

It had been a week since they found her; the girl that grew up with Dick Grayson/Robin. The girl that had moved on from Bruce Wayne/Batman to Sonja Marks/Batwoman. It's not that she didn't enjoy being around Dick and Bruce, but she felt she needed a girl there with her. And when Sonja moved on, she felt compelled to go with. She'd been Batgirl for as long as Dick had been Robin. Even when she and Sonja had moved on, they continued to be a team, a well-loved copy of the infamous _Dynamic Duo_ known as Batman and Robin.

Her name was Phoenix Silverstone, and she had been missing for two weeks before the Team was told to go on a covert mission to find her. Around the time she went missing, Batgirl also went missing, though that was information only Batman, Robin, and Batwoman knew at first. Sonja hadn't spoken to Bruce in years, their fallout having been because Bruce felt Batwoman was getting in Batman's way. It had been three years since they left Gotham.

Dick kept an eye on Phoenix as Batgirl through newscasts, but nothing more. Neither would ever fail to send the other birthday and holiday cards. The only reason Dick knew his best friend since pre-k was missing was through Sonja. She still refused to speak to Bruce, so she met with him when she knew for a fact that Bruce wasn't home. Sonja left before Dick's adoptive father returned, and he passed on the news. So Batman sent the Team out to find her. Their mission was a success.

Phoenix refused to go back with Sonja to Jump City, insisting instead on remaining once again with Dick and Bruce. But for the first few weeks, she didn't leave Mount Justice. The Team saw her a lot, mostly hanging around with M'gann, explaining things in TV shows that were and weren't relevant to normal human life. If she wasn't with M'gann, she was hanging out with Robin. The two were best friends and practically inseparable. She also knew Kid Flash and his secret identity, the three having met each other almost five years before.

There was something about her that Kaldur found himself attracted to. Maybe it was the way she always managed to smile, despite—like Dick—having lost her family in a horrible accident when she was young. Maybe it was the way she crinkled her nose in distaste at the mention of seafood. Or maybe it was just her attitude all around. Saying she was a ray of sunshine would be putting her to shame. She was more like her own sun—radiant, beautiful, and cheerful.

She didn't go with them on missions, but was always there to make sure everyone was all right when they got back. And when the missions didn't go so well, Kaldur found himself looking forward to the moment he stepped off the bioship and was greeted by her kind smile and warm embrace, paired with an, "It's okay. You'll kick their butts next time."

She was open with the Team about who she was, despite Batman's protests about her keeping her secret. She felt that if the Team was to trust her completely, they had to know who she was. Robin had agreed vehemently, due to the fact that Wally slipped his secret up at one point and the Boy Wonder was turned upon. Kaldur wondered how she could ever find it in her to become a creature of the night, a Batgirl. Looking at her as Phoenix Silverstone, it was impossible. But when she pulled on the mask, she was a completely different person. He found out he wasn't the only one surprised by her flip in personality. As Phoenix, she was bright and chipper and bubbly. But as Batgirl, she was serious and tough and…well, badass. Phoenix was the "everyone has good in them" type person. Batgirl was the "beat the crap out of you if you come too close" type person.

She still didn't go with them on missions, but she and Robin would patrol at night on their motorcycles, kicking butt if need be. Whenever the two would come in laughing from a patrol, pulling their masks off and shoving each other, or repeating some inside joke they'd come up with during the course of the night, Kaldur couldn't help but feel…a little bit jealous of the younger boy. He had to keep reminding himself that Dick had known her much, _much_ longer than Kaldur had, and that this was normal behavior.

Kaldur felt that his growing attraction to her was mutual when she started spending more time with him. Dick would join them for most of the conversations, something the older boy didn't mind in the least, and the three would joke about certain villains and their stupid decisions. The list mostly consisted of villains Batman, Robin, and Batgirl had faced, but also included some of the villains the Team had gone against.

One particular day, while Conner and M'gann were at their school, Artemis and Dick were at theirs, and Wally was at his, Phoenix found herself alone in the cave with Kaldur. She'd come to enjoy his presence and found that just being around him comforted her. She didn't know too much about him, but she could never find it in herself to ask when she'd never told him much about her.

As she was sitting on the counter in the kitchen, munching on a cookie from a batch she'd made herself—M'gann gave her the recipe for them—she found herself staring at some of Kaldur's scars. He was leaning against the counter, one arm tucked under the other and a book in his right hand. She couldn't fight the urge to reach out and trace a long scar that ran near one of his tattoos, and next thing she knew, Kaldur's grey eyes were on her.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I couldn't help it."

"It is fine," he answered, marking his place in the book and setting it down on the marble countertop. She scooted closer and, after making brief eye contact with him, traced another one on his forearm, near his wrist.

"How did you get all of these?"

"Some of it was training," he answered in a soft voice, turning to face her full-on. "Some of it was in battle. Others were just accidents." She looked up at him, grey-blue eyes soft. She held out her left hand and showed him a long, pale scar running up her sun-tanned arm from the elbow to just below her shoulder.

"I tell people I got this one from trying to stop a fight at school. I really got it when I was about eleven, working at night as Batgirl. We were after the Joker, and one of his henchmen had a knife. I was captured beforehand, and didn't have my utility belt on me, so I had to fight him off hand-to-hand. Just before I was able to knock the knife from his hand, he slashed me with it. I had to have sixteen stitches, and it hurt like hell."

"I bet," he murmured, silver-grey eyes moving from the scar up to her grey-blue hues. They were both surprised at the proximity between them now, neither having noticed moving closer while speaking. Embarrassed, Phoenix's eyes darted down to his arms, and then scanned up slowly, tracing the lines of his muscles before stopping at the gills on his neck.

"That one, right there," she whispered, reaching out gingerly to touch it. "How did you get that one?" Kaldur shuddered at her touch and caught her hand with his own.

"Every villain looks for a weakness," he explained in a whisper. "The most sensitive part of me is the skin on my neck." Phoenix gave a quiet "huh" in response, eyes moving back down to the small scar. Kaldur freed her hand and she reached forward, gingerly touching the soft skin, eliciting a quiet sigh from the Atlantean. She withdrew her hand and looked up at him. Their faces were so close now that their noses were almost touching. Kaldur lifted his hand and softly touched her cheek with his fingertips, leaning closer ever-so-slightly before hesitating to see if she would pull back. She didn't. Instead she closed the gap between them, her lips meeting his.

Kaldur had never felt something so wonderful as this, so he couldn't think of anything to compare. Phoenix had been kissed before, but it was in a high school play with her playing Juliet and some random kid whose name she couldn't even remember playing Romeo. This was much different than that. This was something more than just a kiss in a play. It was soft, sweet, and unsure, everything she felt a first kiss should be. She gently stroked the skin on Kaldur's neck, and he moaned softly before pulling out of the kiss. He opened his eyes and met hers, curiosity evident in the depths of swirling silver.

"That…how did…?" he wasn't sure of what to say. In fact, he wasn't even sure there was something _to_ say. So instead of talking, he leaned back in towards her and caught her lips once more with his own. One arm wound itself around Phoenix's waist, and his other hand cupped her cheek. She had one hand rested against his chest and her other hand gently stroked the soft, sensitive skin on Kaldur's neck.

About a minute later, a cough came from the doorway leading to the living room, which was adjoined to the kitchen. The couple pulled out of the kiss and turned to see an amused-looking Dick Grayson standing there. Phoenix's eyes darted to the digital clock on the stove. It read 3:37. She should have figured Dick would be back about now. His grin widened and he pulled off his dark sunglasses, revealing his bright, blue eyes.

"Y'know, I was starting to wonder when you two would finally admit your feelings for one another," he said, laughing when both Phoenix and Kaldur gave him confused looks. "Ah, come on, it really wasn't that obvious to you?" Phoenix sighed and hopped off the counter, rolling her eyes at her friend. The others came back soon after that, and they sat down in the living room to watch a movie on the big flat screen. Kaldur sat next to Phoenix with a bowl of popcorn as the movie started, and she curled up against his side, rested her head in the crook of his neck and watched the movie, ignoring the surprised glances from the other teammates.

_Does anybody else think it odd that those two are suddenly close?_ M'gann asked telepathically.

_Actually, yeah,_ Artemis agreed. _I thought Phoenix and Dick were an item._

_Nah, we can't see each other as anything but friends. Trust me,_ Dick countered.

_So what exactly is up with them?_ Wally asked.

_Yeah,_ Conner said. _They weren't like this when we left this morning._

_ It's not that surprising to me. At least, _I _wasn't surprised when I caught them kissing in the kitchen when I got back from school,_ Dick thought.

_What?_ four other voices telepathically shouted.

_Yeah,_ he replied, replaying the scene over in his head. _But I guess the _real _question is: was I the only one not surprised?_


End file.
